Faithful Justice
Psalm 55
Faithful Justice
Psalm 55
A “Miskal” is a song meant to convey a lesson.
Main Idea: Justice belongs to the Lord as our sustainer, protector, and provider.
I. A Fearful Plea (55:1-8)
David calls out to the Lord repeatedly in his life, 9 times chronicled in 1st & 2nd Samuel (1 Samuel 23:1-3, 23:4-5, 23:10-11, 23:12-14, 30:8-9, 2 Samuel 2:1-2, 5:17-21, 5:22-25, 21:1)
II. A Furious Response (55:9-15)
David begins to express anger toward the situation by offering his ideas for how to deal with it. He is being personally attacked, and his first instinct is to fight back.
“As so often, David the anointed king is a type of Jesus the Messiah. What David experienced is fulfilled in Jesus. When Jesus sang this psalm, he did so with an intensity of feeling we can scarcely imagine.”
~ Christopher Ash, The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary
Jesus lived with all of these same burdens, and he desires to see justice served.
III. A Faithful Hope (55:16-23)
David lived a life of violence, but acted against his type to "call to God.” He has learned that this fight was not his fight, and he will fight through prayer.
We have an innate desire to respond to injustice, and the proper response is to call upon the Lord and place our trust in His eternal wisdom and character.
Jesus prayed a similar prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus and David both trusted in the Lord that He would keep His promise.
Psalm 55:22: Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.
David's lesson in this song:
God will sustain you in your time of need
God can and will carry your burden if you will trust Him. He is always protecting you, guiding you, and saving you.
The Lord is able to provide for our needs:
In His omnipotence, He knows what we need, when we need it.
In His all-abiding presence, He is able to meet you where you are
In His kindness, He made a way for us to be reconciled to Him
We can cast our cares on Him because he cares for us and will sustain us through our trials. We can know that He is in control, we can live in the truth that He is Just and has put an end to the power of sin and death, so we are safe in His protection. He invites us to trust Him, to see that He is good, and that He will provide for us in our greatest need.
John 16:33: “In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
We will suffer. We will experience emotional pain. We will be betrayed. We will be desperate and alone. But you are all invited to cast your burden on the Lord. Your troubles are not yours to carry. Jesus came to bear that burden and offer us a better way to live.
From Plea to Praise
Psalm 54
From Plea to Praise
Psalm 54
Main Idea: During distressing times, we should call upon the Lord who upholds our lives.
I. I Called (54:1-3)
“Selah. As if he said, ‘Enough of this, let us pause.’ He is out of breath with indignation. A sense of wrong bids him suspend the music awhile. It may also be observed, that more pauses would, as a rule, improve our devotions: we are usually too much in a hurry: a little more holy meditation would make our words more suitable and our emotions more fervent.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David
II. He Will Answer (54:4-5)
54:1–2 Plea
54:3 Enemies
54:4 God, David’s Helper
54:5 Enemies Annihilated
54:6–7 Praise
He asked in the first verse for deliverance, and here he returns thanks for upholding: while we are seeking one mercy which we have not, we must not be unmindful of another which we have
~ Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David
Colossians 2:13-15: And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
III. We Will Celebrate (54:6-7)
The Psalmist adds, “for it is good,” and surely we may read this with a double nominative, God’s name is good, and so is his praise. It is of great use to our souls to be much in praise; we are never so holy or so happy as when our adoration of God abounds. Praise is good in itself, good to us, and good to all around us. If David’s enemies are described in the third verse as not setting God before them, he here declares that he is of a different mind from them, for he resolves to have the Lord in perpetual remembrance in his sacrifices and praises.
~ Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David
Responding to Evil
Psalm 52
Responding to Evil
Psalm 52
Main Idea: Rather than loving evil, the righteous trust in God’s steadfast love.
The “superscription” of Psalm 52 tells us the exact historical context of this song: “A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.” This is recorded in 1 Samuel 21-22, as Saul orders Doeg to kill all of the priests of Nob, because Ahimelech assisted David.
I. Recognizing Evil (52:1-4)
David identifies both the fruit and the root of Doeg’s sinful actions:
The Fruit of Evil: Wicked Words
“Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man” (52:1a)
“Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor” (52:2)
“You love lying more than speaking what is right” (52:3b)
“You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue” (52:4)
Proverbs 18:21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
James 3:5–8: So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
Matthew 12:36-37: “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The Root of Evil: Disordered Loves (“You love evil more than good” - 52:3a)
Matthew 15:11: “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
Luke 6:45: The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
II. Trusting God (52:5-7)
After diagnosing evil, David turns his attention to two responses to wickedness:
God’s Response (52:5): He will break down, snatch, tear, and uproot the wicked in judgment.
The Righteous Response (52:6-7): Seeing, fearing, and laughing (cf. Ps. 2:4; 37:12-13)
The wicked “trust in the abundance of riches” and “sought refuge in their own destruction” (cf. Phil. 3:19); meanwhile, the righteous make God their refuge and find contentment, safety, and life in him.
Hebrews 13:5: Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
1 Timothy 6:6–10: “… godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”
III. Pursuing Righteousness (52:8-9)
David draws two contrasts between the wicked and the righteous:
The wicked will be “uprooted” (52:5) while the righteous are like “a green olive tree” (52:8a; cf. Ps. 1)
The wicked trust in the abundance of riches (52:7) while the righteous trust in the steadfast love of God (52:8b)
The pursuit of righteousness will be marked by the following postures:
1. Thanksgiving (1 Thess. 5:16-18)
2. Waiting (cf. Rom. 12:19)
“Before or among the saints David intended to wait, feeling it to be good both for him and them to look to the Lord alone, and wait for the manifestation of his character in due season. Men must not fluster us too much; our strength is to sit still. Let the mighty ones boast, we will wait on the Lord.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David
3. Worship
Hitchhiker's Guide to Repentance
Psalm 51
Hitchhiker's Guide to Repentance
Psalm 51
Main Idea: God always answers the sinner's prayer of repentance.
I. The Basis of Repentance (51:1-2)
Psalm 51:1-2: Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
False Basis: Track record, comparison, bargaining.
True Basis: The nature and character of God is the basis of our repentance.
"When the person from whom I have a right to expect nothing gives me everything."
~ Michael Card, Inexpressible
God is a bigger savior than you are a sinner.
Romans 11:5-6: So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.
~Augustus Montague Toplady, Rock of Ages (1762)
II. The Heart of Repentance (51:3-6)
Psalm 51:3-6: For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Suppress: Hide, Rationalize, Blame shift
Confess: David has come to see his sin in God’s sight.
Psalm 51:5: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Sin is only sin because God is real.
2 Corinthians 7:10: For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
III. The Fruit of Repentance (51:7-19)
"When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said 'Repent,' He willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance."
~ Martin Luther
Psalm 51:7-17: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
“All enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise… except where intolerably adverse circumstances interfere, praise almost seems to be inner health made audible… men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: 'Isn't she lovely? Wasn't it glorious? Don't you think that magnificent?' We delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.”
~ C.S. Lewis
Our Help in Great Trouble
Psalm 46
Our Help in Great Trouble
Psalm 46
“We sing this psalm to the praise of God, because He is with us and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends His church and His word against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against all the assaults of the world, the flesh, and sin.”
~ Martin Luther
Main Idea: Though this world is full of trouble, we can turn to God for refuge, strength, and help.
I. The Power of God (46:1-3)
The first stanza of Psalm 46 vividly describes the world in trouble and tumult. The “trouble” the Psalmist is experiencing is like the earth giving way, the mountains being moved and trembling as they are thrown into the raging seas, and the waters of chaos roaring and foaming.
In the midst of this great trouble, the Psalmist begins by remembering: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (cf. Ps. 14:6; 59:16; Jer. 16:19). Though everything around the Psalmist seems to be shaking in chaos, God is unmoved and unchanged. Even if the “worst case scenario” happened, God himself is our refuge from the storms of life. “Therefore, we will not fear…”
“Alps and Andes may tremble, but faith rests on a firmer basis, and is not to be moved by swelling seas. Evil may ferment, wrath may boil, and pride may foam, but the brave heart of holy confidence trembles not. Great men who are like mountains may quake for fear in times of great calamity, but the man whose trust is in God needs never be dismayed.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David
II. The Presence of God (46:4-7)
In contrast to the chaos of verses 2-3, verse 4 now envisions a peaceful, quiet river flowing in the city of God (cf. Ps. 23:2b). Just as Jerusalem had an internal water tunnel into the heart of the city to access its life-giving nutrients and blessings, “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved” (Ps. 46:5).
This internal reservoir of God’s presence in the midst of the city points us to greater gospel realities:
The incarnation of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:23; 28:20)
The giving of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Jn. 7:37-39; 14:16-18)
The “river of the water of life” in the eternal city of God (Rev. 21:6, 22:1; Heb. 11:10)
While the city of God is nourished, protected, and secured internally by the presence of God, it is seemingly threatened from the outside by the nations raging against her (cf. Ps. 2). While the nations and kingdoms may seem threatening and mighty, the Lord simply “utters his voice, and the earth melts.” They are no match for the “the Lord of hosts” and the “God of Jacob.”
“We expect the military metaphor to be associated with defense, “refuge.” We expect the personal metaphor to be connected with intimacy, “with us.” But the terms are deliberately rearranged so that we get intimacy with the warrior God and defense from the family friend. A powerful God (Lord of hosts) befriends (is with us); a personal God (God of Jacob) protects (is our refuge).”
~ Eugene Peterson, Where Your Treasure Is: Psalms that Summon You from Self to Community
III. The Peace of God (46:8-11)
The first commandment given in this Psalm is to “Come, behold the works of the Lord” (46:8). Specifically, we are to watch for the way the Lord will fulfill his promise of everlasting peace. The Lord will one day:
Make wars cease (lit. ‘sabbath’) to the ends of the earth
Break the bow that will shoot sharp arrows
Shatter the spear that pierces foes
Burn chariots that chase in hot pursuit
The Psalmist is reminding us that God will not only protect us in the midst of our trouble, but he will also lead us forward in Jesus Christ to full and ultimate victory. He will be “exalted among the nations” and “exalted in the earth” (cf. Phil. 2:9-11).
The final invitation of this Psalm is: “Be still, and know that I am God.” This invitation has two audiences:
The nations who rage: stand down, cease and desist, and surrender to the Lord of hosts.
God’s people: “The Lord will fight for you, and you only have to be silent.” (Ex. 14:13-14)
Mark 4:37–40: And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
When Bad Things Happen to Good People
Psalm 44
When Bad Things Happen to Good People
Psalm 44
Main Idea: In our unexplained suffering we hold fast our confidence in God’s faithful love in Christ.
I. Past Victories (44:1-8)
The psalmist recalls stories passed down from Israel’s ancestors. The allusions in these verses are to events we read about in the “conquest” recorded in the book of Joshua (44:1-3), to their establishment in the Promised Land (44:4-8), the present day victories (44:5).
In naming these past and present victories in Israel’s story, they are all attributed to the hand of God. These are not their victories, as much as they are God’s victories:
What deeds you performed (44:1)
You with your own hand drove out the nations (44:2)
Them you planted (44:2)
You afflicted the peoples (44:3)
Them you set free (44:3)
Your right hand and your arm (44:4)
Through you we push down our foes (44:5)
You have saved us and put to shame (44:7)
II. Present Disaster (44:9-16)
There is a dramatic shift in tone in these verses; instead of a focus on the victorious past, the emphasis moves to a disastrous present. This is not a psalm of celebration, but of lament.
Contrast between 44:1-8 (victory) and 44:9-16 (defeat):
Victory: drove out the nations (44:2)
Defeat: scattered us among the nations (44:11)
Victory: them you set free [from slavery] (44:2)
Defeat: You have sold your people [into slavery] (44:12)
Victory: we push down our foes (44:5)
Defeat: made us turn back from the foe (44:10)
Victory: put to shame those who hate us (44:7)
Defeat: my . . . shame has covered my face (44:15)
In this section there is a similar emphasis on God’s hand. However, He is no longer the cause of victory, but it appears that he is the cause of their defeat. A few points of reflection on this difficult reality:
We need to be cautious in directly attributing to God the direct cause of every disaster that comes our way
We need to acknowledge, rest in, and trust God’s sovereignty.
Even if we cannot always know what or who is behind every event, even more important is our response to our suffering, and that is humility and trust.
III. Protest of Loyalty (44:17-22)
In this next section, we see another reason for disorientation for the people of Israel. Not only is the suffering inconsistent; it is also unexplained from their vantage point. The suffering we experience on this side of Eternity can often feel this way. Without any apparent change in our faithfulness or obedience, we experience fluctuations in our Christian life: periods of fruitfulness and barrenness; of victory and defeat; of advance and retreat.
“The psalm doesn’t develop it, but implies the revolutionary thought that suffering may be a battle-scar rather than a punishment; the price of loyalty in a world which is at war with God. If this is so, a reverse [e.g., a military defeat] as well as a victory may be a sign of fellowship with him, not of alienation.”
~ Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72
IV. Protest of Loyalty (44:17-22)
The concluding prayer in verses 23-26 is full of the language of lament. It gives us a pattern for our own prayers in face of unexplained suffering
Lament gives words to our perception that God is distant and uncaring.
Lament cries to God for His help
“Suffering of any kind confronts our self-sufficiency. We are always dependent upon God’s help, but pain makes that gap real. . . . By asking God for help, we are not only marshaling the resources of an omnipotent God; we are also reminding our hearts that God can be trusted.”
~ Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy
3. Lament ultimately trusts in God’s character
For the one who has trusted in Christ, God’s “steadfast love” (hesed) has been shown to us through the cross of Christ. When we cry, “Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love”, what we are saying as Christians is, “Save us (help us), because we know (we are confident), that you love us (and will always love us), even in the midst of our suffering. And, the reason we can be absolutely sure of your love is because you gave your Son on the cross for us.”
Romans 8:31-32, 35-39: If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? . . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered” (Ps 44:22). No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, not things present nor things to come nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What Makes You Tick?
Psalm 42-43
What Makes You Tick?
Psalm 42-43
Main Idea: Jesus satisfies our soul’s greatest desires and disarms our deepest doubts so we can hope in Him.
Four reasons why Psalm 42 & Psalm 43 should be read as one unit:
In a number of Hebrew manuscripts, the psalms are joined together as one unit.
Psalm 43 has no introductory title, although every other psalm in book two does (except Psalm 71).
The common refrain repeated three times at the end of each stanza links the composition as one cohesive whole (42:5; 42:11; 43:5).
The content and themes of both psalms are consistent and united.
I. A Deer and Our Soul’s Desires (42:1-6a)
2 Corinthians 10:5: We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problem of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man's treatment was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself, Why art thou cast down, O my soul?' he asks. His soul had been repressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: 'Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you'.”
~ Martin Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure
Matthew 6:19-23: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
II. The Deep and Our Sin’s Destruction (42:6b-11)
“We sometimes forget that the kind of thirst for God of which the Bible speaks is also a terrible experience. It means that we feel a famine of his presence, and absence of his grace and power. Spiritual thirst is painful, not pleasant; it may produce melancholy, not melody in our lives.”
~ Sinclair Ferguson, Deserted by God
It is normal to hurt. When Jesus says “my soul is very sorrowful” (Matt. 26:38; Mark 14:34), the word “very sorrowful” is the same as that of “cast down” (Psalm 42:6b). Elsewhere we see Jesus echoing this Psalm using the words “my soul … in turmoil” (John 12:27). Therefore, this psalm is a window into the life and mind of our Lord Jesus.
Christ, as our high priest, is always able to sympathize with us (Heb. 2:17-18). He himself enters into the crashing waves of grief so common to God’s people. “Most of the Lord’s family have sailed on the sea which is here so graphically described” (Charles Spurgeon).
III. Our Defender and Our Savior’s Delight (43:1-5)
“Prayer is yoked with praise. He who is the living God, is the God of our life, from him we derive it, with him in prayer and praise we spend it, to him we devote it, in him we shall perfect it. To be assured that our sighs and songs shall both have free access to our glorious Lord is to have reason for hope in the most deplorable condition.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 22–57
Jesus is the vindicator (43:1), the defender (43:1), the deliverer (43:1), the refuge (43:2), the one whom we cry out to in prayer (43:2), the light (43:3), the truth (43:3), the fulfillment of the tabernacle on the holy hill (43:3), the final dwelling place (43:3), the perfect altar (43:4) sacrificed on our behalf. He is and ought to be our exceeding joy (43:4). He is our God, and he is our hope.
Two Harvests & One Harmony
Revelation 14:14-15:4
Two Harvests & One Harmony
Revelation 14:14-15:4
Acts 17:30–31a: The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed…
Main Idea: We join the song of the Lamb because Christ saves his people and judges righteously.
I. The Grain Harvest of Salvation (14:14-16)
John now looks and sees a “white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand” (14:14; cf. 1:7, 13). This figure is a callback to Daniel 7:13-14, and this description suggests complete rule and reign over all of creation (Ps. 110:1).
“On that great day, he will come sitting upon a cloud…. It must mean that his judgment-seat will be far more glorious than the thrones of mere mortal monarchs. They may sit upon thrones of ivory; they may exalt themselves upon thrones made of gold and bedecked with myriads of gems shining like the eyes of the morning, or the stars of the midnight sky; but their thrones can never be compared in splendor with the judgment seat of Christ. A great white throne shall come sailing along the sky, and on it shall sit the King of kings, and Lord of lords, the Judge of all, who has the right to sit in judgment, whose decisions will be impartial and infallible, and whose sentences will assuredly be carried out. He asks not for any throne that this world could supply; he borrows no leave to judge from Parliament, or Pope, or prince. He is Judge by divine right, as himself God, and as the Mediator, appointed by God to judge the quick and the dead.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, “The Harvest and the Vintage”
This “Son of Man” has a sharp sickle in his hand, used for harvesting. This first harvest seems to be an “ingathering” and a “reaping” of the plentiful harvest of salvation, frequently referenced by Jesus:
Matthew 9:37–38: Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
The Parable of the Sower (Mt. 13:1-9, 18-23)
The Parable of the Wheat & the Weeds (Mt. 13:24-30, 36-43)
Matthew 24:29–31: Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
God’s people must wait with a patient endurance for the harvest day of salvation to come. This is the day of our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) that we must keep before us in faith as we endure persecution and resist the schemes of the enemy.
II. The Grape Harvest of Judgment (14:17-20)
While the Son of Man himself does the reaping of the “harvest of salvation,” here he commissions “the angel who has authority over the fire” (cf. 8:5) to reap with a sharp sickle. This reaping is unmistakably one of judgment, and treading a winepress is often used symbolically in the OT to speak of God’s judgment (cf. Isa. 62:2-3; Lam. 1:15; Joel 3:13).
This winepress is “outside the city,” and not safe within Mt. Zion (cf. Heb. 13:12-13). The running blood for “1,600 stadia” symbolizes full and final judgment on evil, sin, and wrongdoing. This grape harvest of judgment is the answer to the prayer of “how long?” that permeates Revelation (6:10) and our human experience in this fallen world (cf. Ps. 13).
Matthew 3:7–8: But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
III. The Great Harmony of the Saints (15:1-4)
John now sees another “sign in heaven” that points to the resolution of the conflict between the first two “signs” of the woman (12:1) and the dragon (12:3). The “sea of glass” that the conquering saints stand beside (or on) reminds us of two realities:
The sea of glass in the heavenly throne room (4:6)
The Israelites crossing through the Red Sea, led by a pillar of fire (Ex. 14)
These saints, with harps of God in their hands, “sing the song of Moses” (Ex. 15; Deut. 32), and the song of the Lamb. Just as Israel responded to their own salvation through judgment by singing, so too the saints of God throughout all of human history sing and worship the Lamb, who has saved them through judgment.
The Song of the Lamb emphasizes:
The Greatness of God - “Great and amazing are your deeds…”
The Goodness of God - “Just and true are your ways… You alone are holy”
The Glory of God - “All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
“Revelation began with a vision of the Christ whom we worship (Rev 1) and was followed up with a vision of God’s people at worship (Rev. 4-5); it will conclude with the newly created heaven and earth fashioned into a place of worship, a sanctuary (Rev. 21-22). John, an exiled pastor with responsibility for seven congregations of Christians subject to a barrage of violence and propaganda from without and infiltrated within by cunningly attractive lies, can think of nothing better than to call them to worship. His insistence on contextualizing everything that they think, experience, and feel in the act of worship is not the fussiness of a liturgiologist who cannot bear the mess of ordinary life and so escapes into the arranged beauties of incense, chant, and ritual. No spiritual leader has shown as much evidence as John has of being in touch with and responsive to the manifold difficulties of living a difficult life in a difficult world… his recurrent representations of worship are not pious, escapist fictions, but theological convictions… In a world in which we are constantly subject to dizzying disorientations, worship is the act in which we are reoriented. Worship is the essential and central act of the Christian.”
~ Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder
Confidence in Chaos
Revelation 14:1-13
Confidence in Chaos
Revelation 14:1-13
Main Idea: When everything in our lives is actually out of control, we can trust Jesus, who is absolutely in control.
I. Our Final Outcome is Secured (14:1-4)
Revelation 14:1: Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads…
Where are they standing? On Mount Zion, God’s holy hill (cf. Ps. 2:1-6)
Who is standing there first and foremost? The Lamb (cf. Rev 5)
Who is standing there with Him? The saints who are sealed with His name and His Father’s name
What are they doing as they stand there? They are singing with a loud voice
There are two major truths to be taken from this vision:
First, everyone sealed in the beginning shall be safe in the end.
These did not obtain “saint” status by their performance, rather they were “redeemed from the earth,” “redeemed from mankind.” This is not a thing done by them, but a thing done for them by Another, namely by the Lamb.
Second, the ascendancy of “the beast” has absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the war.
For all intents and purposes, it looks like the dragon is winning, that the Kingdom experiment has failed, that the creation will disintegrate into the chaos from which it came. Then, in what appears to be the last flicker of humanity’s hope, John looks “and behold, on Mount Zion, stood the Lamb, and with Him 144,000.” There it is. Game over. Victory won. It wasn’t even close!
II. Our Game Plan has not Changed (14:5-11)
In the context of the chaos in which we have been placed:
We are to “Fear God and give Him glory” by proclaiming the eternal gospel to those who dwell on earth.
We are to keep ourselves “unstained from the world” (James 1:27) by remembering that “Babylon is fallen, fallen.”
We are to “Watch and pray that we may not enter into temptation,” for “if anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath…and he will be tormented…forever and ever”
Here is the great irony of this vision of the angels: The ones who are putting the saints at risk of their lives are the very ones at the greatest risk. Their one hope is the very people they persecute. Those who proclaim to them the everlasting gospel that has power to save even the worst of sinners.
Here is the encouragement to the saints from the vision of the angels: The plight of the perishing is not lost on us. We know what it is to be “lost” and we know what it is to be “redeemed.” We know that the Lamb has called us to love our enemies and preach the gospel for the glory of His Father, even if it results in our suffering and death. The love of Christ compels us to keep telling everyone we can.
III. Our Marching Orders are Clear (14:12-13)
Revelation 14:12: Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
This endurance is marked by two features:
The saints who endure “keep the commandments of God.” They obey what their Lord has told them in spite of threat, in spite of opposition, in spite of ridicule. They seek to observe everything that the Lord has commanded us to do. (Mat 28:20)
The saints who endure “keep…their faith in Jesus.” This means they not only obey the direct and clear commandments of their Lord, they also orient and organize all of their lives to and around the gospel. They keep “in step with the truth of the gospel.” (cf. Gal. 2:14)
There are two implications in this concept of obedience under “the endurance of the saints”
The first is obedience under the threat of certain death.
The second is obedience in the scope of uncertain life.
The Unholy Trinity
Revelation 13:1-18
The unholy trinity
Revelation 13:1-18
Main Idea: We resist the deceptive schemes of Satan through faithful, enduring worship and loving the truth.
I. The First Beast: Deceptive Power (13:1-10)
John sees the dragon call up a beast from the “sea,” the place of chaos (cf. Rev. 21:1). The description of this beast is a call back to Daniel 7. John sees a combination of the first three beasts of Daniel’s vision (representing Babylon, Persia, and Greece) in a grotesque fourth beast, representing the Roman Empire.
This first beast represents governmental tyranny throughout history working against Christ and his church. It is political and governmental powers demanding the loyalty that belongs to Christ alone. Because this beast is so devious, we don’t always recognize the work of the beast for the tyranny it is. Sometimes the evil of political, social, and economic entities is subtle. Instead of appearing beastly, it appears beautiful. Instead of outright persecution, its ideas and actions are much more subtle, yet equally as evil. They are beastlike in the way they demand loyalty to their philosophies, language, sexual ethics, priorities, and methods.
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
1 John 2:18: Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4a, 9-10: Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship… The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
This beast is an “antichrist” and a counterfeit parody of Jesus:
He is given “power and great authority” with many horns and diadems, just as the Father gives his Son power and authority (13:2b; cf. 5:6; 19:12; Jn. 5:22-27)
He received a mortal head “wound” (cf. Gen. 3:15), but has a counterfeit resurrection and recovery (13:3; cf. Isa. 27:1)
He prompts the worship of the Dragon, the one who gave him authority (3:4; cf. Ex. 15:11)
Authority is given to the beast over “every tribe, and people, and language and nation” (13:7b; cf. 5:9, 7:9, 11:9)
The beast is allowed to “make war on the saints and to conquer them” (13:7a). However, it is through being “conquered” that the saints actually overcome, “for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (12:11; 13:10). This is all a “call for endurance and faith of the saints,” who must not yield and worship the seemingly powerful beast, and who must not grasp for power or position that belongs to God alone and become like the beast themselves (Dan. 4; Gal. 5:15).
II. The Second Beast: Deceitful Propaganda (13:11-18)
John sees a second beast summoned by the dragon, this time from the earth (the land). This beast deceives by providing “religious” justification to worship the first beast. He speaks with authority, but what he says is deceitful and false.
Whereas the first beast speaks loudly and definitely against God, the second beast makes the first beast’s claims sound plausible and persuasive. False teachers within the church are encouraging compromise with the culture’s idolatrous institutions.
~ G.K. Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary
Jesus and the Scriptures continually warn of false and deceptive teachers like this beast:
2 Corinthians 11:13–14: For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
Matthew 7:15: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (cf. Act 20:29)
Matthew 24:24: For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
This beast is a “false prophet” (cf. 16:13; 19:20) and a counterfeit parody of the Holy Spirit:
It directs worship to the first beast, just as the Holy Spirit has a “spotlight ministry” on Christ (13:12)
It is able to perform great signs and wonders (13:13), like the prophet Elijah (fire from heaven - 1 Kgs. 18:38-39), and the scene at Pentecost (Acts 2)
It was allowed to give breath and life, just as the Holy Spirit does (Gen. 2:7; Ezek. 37)As a consequence of Satan’s removal from heaven, he is no longer able to make accusation against the people of God (cf. Job 1; Zech. 3). Though he once had a case against a guilty people, there is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).
The “mark of the beast” is a counterfeit “mark” to the saints who have the “seal” of God on their foreheads (Rev. 7:3; 9:4; Deut. 6:8). This “mark” is an invisible spiritual reality that a person thinks (on the forehead) and acts (the right hand) in a manner consistent with the beast. It was a needed “stamp of approval” to participate in the economic and cultural life of society.
Matthew 10:28: And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
The number 777 represents perfection, but John says 666 is the number of a man. The number 666 represents what is anti-god and antichrist, all that is in opposition to the one true God. If 777 represents holiness and perfect goodness, then 666 signifies the enormity and totality of evil.
~ Thomas Schreiner, ESV Expository Commentary: Revelation
This scene requires “wisdom” and discernment from the saints; when we try to grasp for the position of God, we end up becoming less than what we were created for, and serving the beast. When we humbly submit ourselves to God, loving the truth, and worshipping him with faithful endurance, we resist the beast.